Friday, 24 September 2010

Ala and Mubasshira from Room 17 present "Philomena Wonderpen is a very naughty teacher" by Ian Bone. This intriguingly titled book tells a tale of a very unusual birthday present...

Philomena Wonderpen (her best friend George calls her Philomena Daydreamer) is a little girl who loves to daydream. Perhaps if she could draw her dreams with a magic pen she could make them become real. Then maybe she could even make herself the teacher and then be able to boss the whole class!

Wednesday, 22 September 2010

Mubasshira and Selena from Room 17 do a marvellous job of presenting "Storm" by Margaret Beames in this latest podcast from KPE. "Storm" is another title in the Extreme series, and focuses on the main character facing a personal challenge....

Erin has never had any doubt about what she wants to do when she leaves school. She wants to be a farmer like her father and mother. She finds that being home only at the weekends and during the holidays, is too short a time to enjoy this life that she loves.

Try as she will, Erin finds that the boring jobs around the farm don’t keep her from daydreaming and, as a result, neither of her parents has any confidence in her ability to concentrate and complete a job properly. Things,however, have a habit of changing and Erin must call on all her concentration and resourcefulness to help her father after he has an accident on the farm.

Tuesday, 21 September 2010

Darius and Waata from Room 15 have finally published their podcast of "Whitebait Fritters" by Kingi McKinnon. This is a pretty popular book with Pt England readers and you may have seen Leauma and Sam's earlier podcast of the same book. Of course it is a really interesting story, but we supspect all the talk of food and fishing is popular with our readers too. Why don't you check out both podcasts and see what each pair of podcasters found interesting to them.

Ashleigh and Rita bring us a book by Paul Jennings in this episode of KPE.

In "The Cabbage Patch Pong " Chris is trying to save two old cows that nobody wants. Chris asks dad if he can keep the cows and dad says NO! Chris knows that if he doesn't take the cows they will end up being killed, so he runs away with one of the cows called Petal and one of his siblings.

Boxer is the greediest, nastiest, rudest pig in the world and is on the rampage again. Dot, her Mum, and her brother Charlie have to rely on Dad to show him whose boss. Then when Dad has to go away to war, Dot is given a new responsibility - Boxer. We know you will enjoy hearing about this book from these two year 5 boys.

Monday, 20 September 2010

They have chosen a classic novel to podcast for this episode and Kingston has done a great job of telling us what this story is about. If you have never read "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" we highly recommend this podcast.

Imagine a scientist who has concocted a potion. With an act of excitement the man tests this potion on himself. With one gulp, he experiences an amazing transformation and so, a disturbing creature arises....

Chante and Brooklyn from Room 15 have been reading a book in the 'Molly's Magic' series called "The Wish Puppy" by Holly Webb. Molly can talk to animals and in the Molly's Magic series we hear all about her adventures with the animals which come to her father's veterinary surgery. In The Wish Puppy it's up to Molly to reunite Star the King Charles Spaniel with her twin sister Stella before her magic fades. Star is a wish puppy, you see, and the longer she's separated from her twin the more her magic will fade. This is the second book in the series but each can be read without having read any of the others.

Melanie Drewery spins a magical tale, weaving the ties from the past that bind us all to this land called Aotearoa. Across the years we have all formed links and connections to the land we call home and no matter where we are in the world we will always feel that pull back to this special place.

The Toa are searching for the Disks of Power. Without these Disks, they may never be able to defeat the Morbuzak that is destroying the city of Metru Nui. The Matoran say they will help, but at least one of them has his own plans. Will the Toa succeed in their quest? Or will someone that they thought they could trust betray them?

Selena and Ala from Room 17 present "Friends: Snake and Lizard" by Joy Cowley and Gavin Bishop in this podcast for KPE.

"This is a new book of stories about the daily adventures of the popular Snake and Lizard. Snake is elegant and calm, and a little self-centred; Lizard is exuberant and irrepressible. In this book they meet a frog without its croak, a nosy porcupine and many other creatures of the desert – even human beings. Although Snake and Lizard argue a lot, they remain the best of friends."

This is the first book in a series about about Michael and his cousins known as the 'Wild Wests'.

"Michael is an only child of doting parents who believe that it is important to know the right people, say the right things and live in the right kind of house. They are not exactly enthusiastic when their relatives the Wests move into the next street but Michael can't wait to spend more time with Auntie Rosie, Uncle Leo and their five children who are known as the wild West gang. No one in the West family has ever heard of the word "tidy" and they all do exciting things that sometimes get them into trouble."

This book is a great read for people learning about Mighty Mariners -as we are at Pt England School this year. We all know what "Mayday" means and so the title gives us lots of clues about this book.

As well as telling a great tale, we also learn lots about maritime safety rules and what can go wrong on a boat trip.

"Lee, her Dad and cousin are aboard a stricken boat, and there is no one to help them. They can’t use the radio- it doesn’t work. Fixing it was another of the jobs Uncle Matt was going to ‘sort out sometime,’ along with the leaking dinghy and the faulty wiring.

A lapse of concentration sees the Bella run aground on Richard’s Rock, kilometres away from any help. With the dinghy only big enough for two, Dad prepares Lee and Joey for an epic row to land, and safety. Dad must stay behind with the sinking Bella and hope that help arrives before he is forced to take to his raft of foam cushions, risking the ocean - and the sharks."

Monday, 13 September 2010

Selina and Brooke from Room 17 have podcast a book by a New Zealand author called Melinda Szymanik. The book has a very strange title - "The Were-Nana". Read the snippet below to get an idea of what the story is about, then check out their podcast...

"There’s nothing Simon enjoys more than scaring his little sister, Stella Rosa. And now that the mysterious Nana Lupin is coming to stay, Simon is having great fun. Stella Rosa is afraid. Is her nana really a monster?"

Wednesday, 8 September 2010

"As Kuku Slept" by Erin Devlin is podcast by two students from Room 17, Kayla and Chanel.

Kingi Kereru wakes up one moonlit night to find a possum about to raid his nest and attack his baby, Kuku. He and his mate Queenie chase the possum away, leaving Grandpa Kukupa guarding Kuku's as they fly up to investigate. As they fly further they see hundreds, then thousands, then millions of possums gorging on leaves and berries, and stealing eggs and chicks from nests. Sad and exhausted, they fly homewards. When they stop for a rest, they are encouraged by the sight of people working to save the kereru, setting traps for possums and other pests.

This story tells the story of the kereru, the New Zealand native wood pigeon, which is now a threatened species. You will learn a lot about the threat possums are to our forests and native creatures as you listen to the podcast and read the book.

Ala and Selena present "Old Bones" by Bill Nagelkerke in this episode of KPE.

Here is a taster of what this book is about...

Jamie and his family have just moved into a big, old house called Cloverly inthe city, and he is not happy about it. Jamie loved his life on the farm andblames the move into town on Sue, his dad’s new partner. Jamie resents Suefor the way she has intruded into his life with his father. The farm is special toJamie because it is where he feels closest to his mother, who died duringchildbirth. To make matters worse Sue is pregnant herself. The thought ofhaving a new baby brother or sister is less than thrilling for Jamie.

For weeks Jamie rattles around the rambling, old house. He has left all of hisold friends behind and has no interest in trying to find new ones. Anyway,there is something unusual about Cloverly. Jamie senses a ghostly presencein his bedroom. The room is always cold, and he can hear strange soundssuch as running water and trains – even though there are none for miles.